The rich are becoming richer. And I wouldn’t have a problem with that if I was rich. Maybe that attitude is the heart of Obamism.
Consumer spending accounts for roughly two-thirds of U.S. gross domestic product, or the value of all goods and services produced in the nation. And spending by the rich now accounts for the largest share of consumer outlays in at least 20 years.
According to new research from Moody's Analytics, the top 5% of Americans by income account for 37% of all consumer outlays. Outlays include consumer spending, interest payments on installment debt and transfer payments.
Unfortunately for the US economy, even if I was rich I would likely still be the cheap bastard that I am now. Yes, Warren Buffett is my idol. I have his poster in my bedroom.
By contrast, the bottom 80% by income account for 39.5% of all consumer outlays.
It is no surprise, of course, that the rich spend so much, since they earn a disproportionate share of income. According to economists Emmanuel Saez and Thomas Piketty, the top 10% of earners captured about half of all income as of 2007.
The GOP, of course, says let the poor and middle class eat cake. Someone else said that too. Let’s see, what happened to her?
The data may be a further sign that the U.S. is becoming a Plutonomy–an economy dependent on the spending and investing of the wealthy. And Plutonomies are far less stable than economies built on more evenly distributed income and mass consumption. "I don't think it's healthy for the economy to be so dependent on the top 2% of the income distribution," Mr. Zandi said. He added that, "In the near term it highlights the fragility of the recovery."
Anyway, I’m sure wingnut geniuses are tying the enrichening of the rich to Obama’s socialist policies. Probably something to do with Bill Ayers and ACORN.
The top 5% control 80% of the wealth but only spend 37% of the money. At least that's what it looks like. So how the hell would tax cuts for them make a damn bit of difference in how much they spend when they only spend half of what they get according to my admitted rough estimates.
ReplyDeleteThe income gap is by design. Greed begets more greed. The more they got, the more they want. Bastards they are.
Too late at night for me to follow the math, Truth. I believe you're right, though. The lesson is don't follow economic theories derived on cocktail napkins after too many cocktails apparently. And the GOP still wants to embrace supply side.
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